Page 21 - Dainfern Precinct Living Issue 8_2023

“ Adventure
Travel

May the winds welcome you with softness. May

the sun bless you with its warm hands. May

you fly so high and so well that God joins you

in laughter, and sets you gently back into the

loving arms of Mother Earth “

TEXT AND PHOTOS BY ANTHONY CAVANAGH

he balloon rose almost with nine American tourists. Sunrise is provided, boarding still requires
imperceptibly as Mark, our was still over an hour away and we a certain amount of agility as the
pilot, increased the gas were all well wrapped up on this very basket is over a metre in height and
Tflow to the burners. Slowly chilly winter morning. There was a the compartments are very narrow.
but surely, we lifted higher off the hive of activity at the launch site with The Australians and Finns joined us in
ground and rose steadily upwards generators providing lighting and our balloon, which including our pilot
and away from the launch site where powering the fans that were being made a total of fourteen people on
the second balloon still stood, not used to inflate the two balloons. Tea board.
quite fully inflated. The early morning and coffee were being served and
mist still hung over Mankwe lake in we chatted to our fellow balloonists, Mark explained that control of the
the centre of the Pilanesberg game some of whom we learned were from balloon is limited to vertical motion,
reserve and as we gained height, Australia and Finland. while the horizontal motion is
we saw the shadow of our balloon governed by the direction of the wind.
projected onto the surrounding misty Our designated balloon became fully Consequently, with safety paramount,
curtain. inflated and Sue and I were invited balloon flights are conducted only in
to climb on board. The balloon’s favourable weather conditions.
Sue and I had been collected at basket has five compartments,
05hr15 at Bakubung Lodge and driven the central one being for the pilot We drifted serenely over the reserve
on a 14 seat game viewing vehicle and the other four being for the and spotted a herd of elephant in the
to the balloon launch site, together passengers. Although a stepladder distance as well as wildebeest and

BALLOON

FLIGHT

Over the Pilansberg

DPL issue 8 2023
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